Felsomat, a German manufacturer that makes automation equipment for the automotive industry, has a talent problem that's become a growth problem.

Plans to triple the size of its Schaumburg facility, to 100,000 square feet, have stalled in part because it is difficult to find skilled technicians to design, build and service the automated systems that have allowed U.S. carmakers to produce more than ever before with fewer people, said Richard Gilchrist, chairman of Felsomat USA.

Despite the national hand-wringing about manufacturing jobs lost to automation and cheaper foreign labor, and President-elect Donald Trump's threats of penalties against companies that offshore, some manufacturers say the industry's health relies more on training people for the jobs that will keep their companies competitive in the future.

The low-paid assembly-line jobs "will never come back," Gilchrist said. "The jobs that can come back are high-tech jobs, if we have the industry to support it."

The jobs that can come back are high-tech jobs, if we have the industry to support it.— Richard Gilchrist, chairman of Felsomat USA

Those jobs are within reach of working-class populations that traditionally found solid pay in manufacturing.

Gilchrist, who employs 60 people, said about 70 percent of his jobs do not require a four-year college degree. Among the hardest positions to fill are mechatronics engineers — which are essentially mechanical, hydraulic and pneumatic engineers rolled into one. The job calls for an associate's degree and on-the-job training plus, in some cases, a willingness to spend long stretches away from home on service missions. It pays about $25 to $30 an hour.

Recruiting has been an uphill climb as an increasingly high-tech manufacturing sector battles the image of a dirty, dying industry and a mindset that idealizes a university education. Many manufacturers are bringing workers back from retirement to fill positions.

"Unfortunately, there hasn't been enough effort and activity by employers to really set themselves up for long-term success," said Jeannine Kunz, vice president of Tooling U-SME, a Cleveland-based company that helps manufacturers develop in-house training programs.

Many companies that are expanding their buildings and upgrading technology are not balancing their capital investments with training investments so people actually know how to meet the new demands, Kunz said. Her organization, which gave the manufacturing industry a C-minus for talent development, found in a survey that 9 in 10 manufacturers have a hard time finding workers.

As a result, productivity, quality, innovation and safety suffer, she said.

Some Chicago-area manufacturers have responded by partnering with local high schools and community colleges to train a new generation of workers excited for a career in advanced manufacturing.

Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune

Carlos Mojica, from left, Curt Nikula and Sergio Sosa work on a molding press Nov. 30, 2016, at A-1 Tool in Melrose Park. The company has made promotional videos to help show job applicants what working there is like.

Carlos Mojica, from left, Curt Nikula and Sergio Sosa work on a molding press Nov. 30, 2016, at A-1 Tool in Melrose Park. The company has made promotional videos to help show job applicants what working there is like. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)

The Golden Corridor Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, an organization of about 20 manufacturers along Interstate 90 between O'Hare International Airport and Rockford, works with Palatine and Arlington Heights school districts to create a sustainable talent pipeline. The companies host students in internships, sponsor robotics contests, donate equipment and hold open houses to give kids an inside look at their modern facilities.

Developing a pool of skilled young people not only helps current employers but also could attract new employers to the area, said Gilchrist, chair of the group.

"Companies will locate where there is a ready-trained labor force," he said.

At Wheeling High School, which works with the Golden Corridor manufacturers, plans to create an engineering program a decade ago took on a heavier manufacturing focus after employers complained of a dearth of skills on the factory floor.

Convincing kids — and most of all, their parents — to consider factory careers was difficult at first because of the blue-collar associations, said Tom Steinbach, a technology engineering instructor at Wheeling. The classes are labeled "manufacturing engineering" to make them sound more highbrow, just as the terms STEM and maker movement have lent sex appeal to the industry.

"Now we've seen a total 180, where parents are excited," Steinbach said, in part because huge college bills aren't always translating to students being prepared for good-paying jobs.

Given higher unemployment rates among people without college degrees, it would seem like there should be an eager manufacturing talent supply.

But weak programs to support new employees lead to a revolving door of workers who don't last longer than six months to a year, said John Hindman, learning and performance improvement leader at Tooling U-SME.

And there are knowledge-transfer concerns. Manufacturing workers tend to be either veterans on the verge of retirement or newbies fresh out of school, as the generation in between — for the most part Generation Xers who should be in management — came of age when parents and teachers were steering kids away from what appeared to be a sputtering industry, Hindman said.

The state counted 568,500 manufacturing jobs in October, down from 877,000 at the start of 2000, when manufacturing was the second-largest employer in the state — behind only the trade, transportation and utilities category, which remains the state's jobs leader. Manufacturing has since been eclipsed in jobs by professional and business services, education and health, government, and leisure and hospitality.

The state's manufacturing job losses have stabilized since 2010 and the industry remains an economic powerhouse, with total output of $100 billion in Illinois in 2014, about 13.4 percent of the state's GDP, according to the National Association of Manufacturers.

High turnover stemming from retirements is leaving employers scrambling to fill positions, said Jim Nelson, vice president at the Illinois Manufacturing Association.

This summer City Colleges of Chicago announced construction of a $75 million manufacturing center that will accommodate another 3,800 students at Richard J. Daley College, which houses the community college system's manufacturing program in the West Lawn neighborhood near Midway Airport.

But an even greater challenge than training workers on technical skills is finding people with basic professional skills, Nelson said. He recalled that when applicants to a state manufacturing training program were told they would be drug tested to qualify, nearly half of them failed to return.

"Getting people to work on time and drug-free and alcohol-free is a big challenge," he said.

Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune

Owner and President Geoff Luther is seen Nov. 30, 2016, at A-1 Tool in Melrose Park. Luther's company built a kitchen and gym to help retain talent and created a process map that shows workers how to move up the career ladder.

Owner and President Geoff Luther is seen Nov. 30, 2016, at A-1 Tool in Melrose Park. Luther's company built a kitchen and gym to help retain talent and created a process map that shows workers how to move up the career ladder. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)

Some research suggests that worries about a manufacturing skills gap are overblown.

In a nationally representative survey of 900 manufacturers, researchers found that just 16 to 25 percent of companies had hiring difficulties connected to a skills shortage, much less than the numbers provided by trade groups, said Andrew Weaver, assistant professor in the School of Labor and Employment Relations at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who co-authored the study.

Jobs that demanded higher-level reading and math skills, not computer and tech expertise, were most predictive of extended job vacancies, said Weaver, whose findings were published in the July issue of Industrial and Labor Relations Review.

Hiring challenges also came into play among small firms located in clusters during times of changing demand. That's because those clustered firms rely on community colleges or other external sources to cultivate a talent pool, rather than large internal training departments, and it can be hard to efficiently coordinate and communicate their needs, Weaver said.

But employers should be heartened that today's workforce is much more educated than that of 40 or 50 years ago.

"If anything, retiring workers should be an opportunity to vastly upgrade the skills," Weaver said.

Manufacturers keeping a close eye on margins as they grapple with global competition often are reluctant to make a long-term investment in creating their own talent pool.

But strong growth plans and a looming wave of employee retirements pushed Woodward, which makes airplane fuel systems and controls, to take steps to home-grow its own workforce.

Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune

Mechanical engineer Rafal Kras measures a mold with a laser Nov. 30, 2016, at A-1 Tool in Melrose Park. Some workers at the plant earn more than $30 an hour.

Mechanical engineer Rafal Kras measures a mold with a laser Nov. 30, 2016, at A-1 Tool in Melrose Park. Some workers at the plant earn more than $30 an hour. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)

A quarter of its employees, or about 412 people, are over 55, and the so-called silver tsunami of baby boomer retirements is just starting to crash, said June Hazzard, vice president of human resources for the Aircraft Turbine Business Group at Woodward, which has a plant in Niles and two plants in Rockford.

Woodward calculated that over a short period it would need to hire 500 new employees, and it made a conscious decision not to poach workers from other manufacturers, which wouldn't be enough and often isn't effective because people are loyal, Hazzard said.

Instead, the company partnered with the Rockford School District to create a summer manufacturing program for high school students at Rockford Valley College, to sow interest and create a foundation of knowledge that would make them hire-ready. Woodward, a client of Tooling U-SME, then trains new hires through a set of in-house classes that combine classroom work, online classes and applied work on the floor, plus regular skills assessments to track progress.

Employees start at $14 or $15 an hour and those wages go up to the high $20s and $30s after several years as they become fully skilled.

Positions haven't gone unfilled and the company has exceeded its goal of retaining 95 percent of its workers for at least a year, making the return on investment "a no-brainer," Hazzard said.

"When a position is posted, most leaders want to find someone who already has experience," Hazzard said. "We made the fundamental shift away from that concept that we will find someone who is a good fit for the organization and we will teach them to make our products."

Elena Valentine, co-founder of Skill Scout, a startup that helps manufacturers hire from overlooked talent pools, agreed that company hiring practices remain stuck in the past. Many employers still put bland job descriptions on yard signs or "post-and-pray" job boards.

To appeal to the new generation, Valentine's company helps manufacturers tell their story through behind-the-scenes videos that show what working there is like. To get away from relying on resumes that focus on number of years worked rather than ability, Skill Scout incorporates hands-on work samples into applications.

At A-1 Tool in Melrose Park, one of Valentine's clients, promotional videos are one of several efforts to attract a skilled workforce.

Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune

Metal parts are seen at A-1 Tool in Melrose Park. The company hires many workers from East and West Leyden high schools, which have longtime metals programs.

Metal parts are seen at A-1 Tool in Melrose Park. The company hires many workers from East and West Leyden high schools, which have longtime metals programs. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)

The company, which manufactures steel molds to make plastic parts, built a spacious kitchen and gym to help retain talent and created a process map with detailed steps and goals that not only improves efficiency but shows people how to move up the career ladder, from sweeping floors to running grinders to fitting molds.

"What I've recognized is that most companies are failing at providing a path for success," said Geoff Luther, A-1's owner and president. Entry-level jobs start at about $12 to $13 an hour and those who move up to become mold-makers can earn more than $30 an hour, he said.

Luther estimates nearly a quarter of his 85 employees come from East and West Leyden high schools, which have longtime metals programs. Among them is Gregory Zaucha, a 25-year-old mechanical engineer who started working at A-1 as a summer intern when he was 16. Zaucha started sweeping floors and cleaning machines making $8 an hour — "a character builder," he said — and kept working at the plant through community college and then a bachelor's program at University of Illinois at Chicago, where he got his mechanical engineering degree last year.

Zaucha said he initially dreamed of being a police officer but his factory colleagues persuaded him that manufacturing was a better route, in part because he gets holidays and weekends off. He is glad he got his hands dirty on the floor because "it makes me a better designer, I understand how things actually work," and expects to keep climbing at the company, perhaps to a job in sales.